Deep well drilling apparatus

ABSTRACT

A base structure having front and rear ends is provided with an elevatable drawworks support, a gin pole structure, a mast mounted in front of the gin pole structure, and a pipe setback structure mounted in front of the mast on the base structure. Movable means are secured between the base structure and drawworks support; sheave means are provided on the gin pole structure, and a flexible line is secured at one end to the mast and extends over the sheave means with its other end connected to the traveling block of the mast when the mast is in reclining position. The drawworks has a line connected over the sheave means on the gin pole structure and is connected to the crown block and traveling block of the mast so that the drawworks may elevate the mast to an upright position when the drawworks is on the base. Thereafter, the pipe setback tower structure may be moved to an upright position on the base, and the drawworks elevated to an upright position above the base structure.

United States Patent 1 Branham et al.

1 51 July 31,1973

[ DEEP WELL DRILLING APPARATUS Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser [75] Inventors: Donald R. Branham; Paul E. Borg; Attorney-Jack Hayden Douglas C. Goerner, all of Houston, Tex [5 7] ABSTRACT [73] A i pyramid Derrick & Equipment A base structure having front and rear ends is provided Corp Houston Tex. with an elevatable drawworks support, a gin pole structure, a mast mounted in front of the gin pole structure, [22] Filed: Nov. 10, 1971 and a pipe setback structure mounted in front of the 211 App] 197,431 mast on the base structure.

Movable means are secured between the base structure 52 and drawworks support; sheave means are provided on 1 Cl 173/151 3 the gin pole structure, and a flexible line is secured at [5 l 1 Int. Cl Ezlb /00 one end to the mast and extends over the sheave means [58] Field 0 l l 64 20. with its other end connected to the traveling block of [1511 211/ the mast when the mast is in reclining position. The drawworks has a line connected over the sheave means 56 on the gin pole structure and is connected to the crown 1 UN Reterences Cited block and traveling block of the mast so that the I [TED STATES PATENTS drawworks may elevate the mast to an upright position Z/ Jenkins et al. 52/116 when the drawworks is on the base. 2:852:11 4- gfigs zzz Thereafter, the pipe setback tower structure may be 3,563,392 2/1971 Wilson /85 x moved might the base and the drawworks elevated to an upright position above the base structure.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 7! A? 36 4/ a /6 O 36 40 o 25 /ib l 2; /5d 1 /5 Ase j (5b 5 fie zj (2B4 I l Zia .L 'JJ- //6 din 0 NM 4 '5"'T '1T "Z.D- I m L a 1" /5C A7 l Paten ted July 31, 1973 3,749,183

2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented July 31, 1973 3,749,183

2 Sheets-31mm I:

1 DEEP WELL DRILLING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a high floor pivoted mast drilling apparatus employed for drilling oil, gas, and similar wells.

As wells are drilled deeper, it can be appreciated that additional lengths of pipe are necessary to accomplish the drilling operation. The weight of the drilling pipe when it is stacked reaches proportions such that it is desirable to support the pipe load directly on a base structure and independently of transmitting any pipe load to the base structure through the mast. Also, it is desirable to support the rotary table employed in the drilling operations for imparting rotations to the drill pipe to drill the well bore independently of the mast so as to impart as little vibration as possible to the mast structure.

Since well bores are being drilled deeper, the mast structures may in some instances approach 140 feet or more, yet it is desirable to support the mast, a pipe setback structure, and the drawworks on a single base structure for ease of transportation and positioning at the drill site.

In addition, it is desirable to employ the drawworks to assist in elevating the mast from a reclined position on the base structure to an upright position and to then position the drawworks at an elevated position above the base structure so that rotation may be imparted to the rotary table and other drilling operations accomplished therewith, the movement of such drawworks to an elevated position being accomplished without employing cranes to elevate the drawworks from its position on the base to such elevated position.

It is also desirable to provide a suitable support for maintaining the mast in an upright position, such support is also carried by the base structure along with the drawworks and connects with the mast after it has been elevated from a reclined position to support the mast independently of the movable drawworks structure and the pipe setback structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Applicant is familiar with United States Letters Patent No. 3,228,l5l, but such construction is undesirable for several reasons. The mast is elevated into position, as is the drawworks, but the mast incorporates a floor therein which interfits with the drawworks structure.

In addition, the pipe support or setback arrangement is incorporated in the mast so that the weight of the pipe load when stacked in the mast is transmitted through the mast. Also, where the rotary table is incorporated in the arrangement so that it is supported by the mast, the pipe in the well bore that is supported through the rotary table is carried by the mast. Thus such prior art arrangement discloses an integrated structure wherein the mast, drawworks, rotary table, and pipe setback are all interrelated. Thus, the vibration of the drawworks and rotary table is transmitted not only to the drawworks and rotary table support which is integral, but may also be transmitted to the mast and to the pipe setback structure. Also, undesirable loading of the mast is effected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a deep well drilling apparatus wherein a base structure is provided for supporting a drawworks support, a drawworks thereon, a gin pole structure supported on the base in front of the drawworks support, a mast supported on the base in front of the gin pole structure, and a separate pipe support on the base structure in front of the mast.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a deep well drilling apparatus wherein a base structure is provided for supporting a drawworks support, a drawworks thereon, a gin pole structure supported on the base in front of the drawworks support, a mast supported on the base in front of the gin pole structure, and a separate pipe support on the base structure in front of the mast with movable means interconnecting the drawworks support and base structure to enable the drawworks to be raised to an elevated position after the mast has been moved from a reclined position on the structure to an upright position on the structure and means interconnecting the mast and the gin pole for supporting the mast in an upright position.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a base structure for a deep well drilling apparatus which comprises a drawworks support, a drawworks thereon, a mast having one end pivotally secured to the base structure, a gin pole arrangement between the mast and the drawworks. sheave means carried by the gin pole structure, and flexible line means connecting the drawworks and mast whereby the mast may be raised to an upright position while the drawworks is in a nonelevated position on the base structure, and a separate pipe setback structure which may be moved to an upright position on the base structure.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a base structure for a deep well drilling apparatus which comprises a drawworks support, a drawworks thereon, a mast having one end pivotally secured to the base structure, a gin pole arrangement between the mast and the drawworks, sheave means carried by the gin pole structure, and flexible line means connecting the drawworks and mast over said sheave means whereby the mast maybe raised to an elevated position when the drawworks is in a nonelevated position on the base structure, movable means connecting the drawworks support and base structure whereby the drawworks may be raised to an elevated position above the base structure, and a separate pipe support structure on the side of the mast opposite from the drawworks support.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a base structure for a deep well drilling apparatus which comprises a drawworks support, a drawworks thereon, a mast having one end pivotally secured to the base structure, a gin pole arrangement between the mast and the drawworks, sheave means carried by the gin pole structure, and flexible line menas connecting the drawworks and mast whereby the mast may be raised to an elevated position when the drawworks is in a nonelevated position on the base structure, movable means connecting the drawworks support and base structure whereby the drawworks may be raised to an elevated position above the base structure, a separate pipe support structure on the side of the mast opposite from the drawworks support, and means for supporting a rotary table, such means including support braces extending between the drawworks support and the pipe support independently of the mast.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an enlarged view showing the drawworks support structure, gin pole structure, mast, and separate pipe supporting structure supported on the base structure;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1 illustrating schematically the independent relationship of the mast to the drawworks support structure, rotary table support, and pipe setback support;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating the base structure with the drawworks support thereon, the gin pole structure secured to the base structure in front of the drawworks, and a mast in reclined position with flexible means extending from the drawworks and over sheave means on the gin pole structure for moving the mast from a reclined position to an upright position on the base structure adjacent the gin pole structure;

FIG. 4 illustrates the pipe support structure pivotally secured to the base structure and in dotted line in an inclined position on the base structure and in full line on its upright position on the base structure independently of the mast; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the base structure showing the gin pole with the mast secured thereto in upright position, the pipe setback in upright position, and the drawworks support with the drawworks thereon and movable means between the drawworks and the base structure with flexible line means extending from the drawworks over the mast and back to the drawworks support for raising the drawworks to an elevated position adjacent the gin pole structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Attention is first directed to FIG. 1 of the drawings wherein a base structure is referred to generally by the numeral 10. The base support structure may be of any suitable length such as 40 to 60 feet by way of example, and may be formed of suitable longitudinal and lateral beam members in a manner known to those skilled in the art to provide necessary structural strength. In addition, an outer covering as represented at l 1 may be provided on all or a part of the supporting or support base structure 10 to provide chambers inside of the support structure 10 for receiving liquids.

For purposes of identification, the end 13 of the structure 10 may be refered to as the rear end of the support structure 10, and the end 14 may be referred to as the front end of the base support 10. Mounted on the base support structure is a drawworks support structure referred to at 15, a gin pole structure referred to at 18, a mast 19, a separate pipe setback support structure 25, and a rotary table support 26 secured to and extending between the drawworks support structure 15 and pipe setback support structure 25.

The drawworks support structure 15 includes suitable bracing and decking for forming a drawworks support referred to at 15a. extending between the drawworks support 15a and the base 10 are movable means 15b shown in the form of four legs, two on each side of support base 10. One end 15c of each leg 15b is pivotally secured to the base 10, and the other end 15d is pivotally secured to the drawworks support 15a. When the drawworks l6 and the drawworks supporting structure have been moved from the dotted line position referred to generally at 17, in which position the drawworks and drawworks support structure rests on the base structure 10, to the full line position which represents the elevated position of the drawworks support structure and drawworks l6, suitable bracing as illustrated at 15c may be provided for securing the drawworks support structure 15 and drawworks 16 in such predetermined elevated position relative to the base structure 10. As noted, any suitable arrangement of bracing may be employed to accomplish such purpose.

The gin pole structure 18 comprises legs 18a and 18b which have their lower ends and 18d, respectively, secured in the spaced footings 18c and 18f on the base structure 10. The legs 18a and 18b extend upwardly at an angle to be connected at their upper ends as shown, and a similar arrangement is provided on the other side of base support 10. A shaft 18g extends between the spaced gin pose structure on the base 10 at their upper ends for receiving rotatable sheave means represented at 28 thereon for a purpose to be described in greater detail hereinafter. It will be noted that the gin pole structure 18 is mounted on the base structure 10 between the drawworks support structure and the mast 19 with one end 19a of the mast pivotally supported adjacent and in front of the gin pole structure 18 on the base structure in suitable means such as the footing 18f or a separate footing may be provided for the mast if desired.

The pipe setback support tower 25 is fonned by rigid box framing including at least four legs 25a, two adjacent each side of the base support 10. The legs 25a extend in an upright position from the base structure 10 when the tower is moved to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 adjacent the front of the mast. The pipe setback support structure 25 may have its forward legs pivotally secured in the footings 25b to enable the setback tower to be moved from the horizontal position to the vertical upright position as schematically illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

The rotary table support 25 includes suitable structural members extending between the drawworks supporting structure 15 and the pipe supporting structure 25 through the mast, but without contacting any portion of the mast so that the rotary table represented at 30 in FIG. 1 may be supported thereon and independently of the mast.

In FIG. 2 of the drawings, the legs 18a of the gin pole structure 18 are schematically represented, one on each side, each leg 18b being incorporated in the schematic representation designated 35 which also represents the legs of the upright mast 19. The schematic representative 35 represents clearance between the mast legs and legs 18b of the gin pole structure and the drawworks support 15, pipe setback tower 25, rotary table support 26, as well as the floor or decking on the drawworks support and rotary table support 26, so that vibration of the rotary table and drawworks is not transmitted to the mast extending upwardly through the work floor area. The clearance between the mast 19 and pipe setback tower 25 is indicated at 40, so that when pipe as represented at 41 in FIG. 1 is stacked thereon, the load of such pipe is transmitted directly through the tower 25 to the base support 10 and independently of the mast 19.

From the foregoing description, it can be seen that the present invention provides an arrangement so that the drawworks, the drawworks support structure, the pipe support structure, rotary support, and rotary table are all carried on the base independently of the mast 19 so that no load nor vibration from the pipe supported on the pipe rack 25 or from the rotary table St) or drawworks 16 may be imparted to any part of the mast. Rather, such loads and vibrations are transmitted through the respective supporting structures directly to the base structure 10 on which the mast l9 and gin pole structure 18 are provided.

It will be noted that when the mast 19 is elevated to an upright position, suitable means as shown at 36 in FIG. I connect the mast l9 and gin pole structure 18 together to support and retain the mast in an upright position.

FIGS. 3 through 5 schematically represent the manner in which the present invention is employed. In FIG. 3, the drawworks 16 is shown as being mounted on the drawworks support a which in turn is connected by the structure 15 to the base 10. The gin pole structure 18 is mounted on the base 10, and the leg 19a of the mast is pivotally secured in the footing 18f on the base structure 10. Flexible line means 50 are connected from the drum of the drawworks 16 over a portion of the sheave means 28 on the gin pole structure 18 and extend over the crown block (not shown) of the mast 19 down to the traveling block represented at 51. A sling 52 connects the hook 53 of the traveling block 51 with the mast 19 by suitable means such as the connection 54, the sling extending over a portion of the sheave means on the shaft 18g on gin pole structure 18. The weight of the drawworks relative to the mast is such that when a force is exerted on the line 50 longitudinally of the mast, the traveling block 51 will be caused to move towards the crown block in the mast whereupon the sling 52 causes the mast 19 to move to an upright position as shown in FIG. 2. Should the weight of the drawworks 16 be insufficient to accomplish such function, the drawworks may be fastened to the base structure 10 to retain it on the base while such function is accomplished.

FIG. 4 shows the manner in which the drawworks 16, while still in a nonelevated position on the base struc ture 10, may be employed to position the pipe support structure 25. The pipe supporting structure is shown in dotted line at 250 in nonelevated position on one side of the mast l9, and the flexible line from the drum on the drawworks extends over the crown block (not shown) and then down to the traveling block 51. The hook 53 is connected to the tower 25 by sling 60 which extends from its connection at 61 on the tower 25 when in a nonelevated position to the hook 53 in the mast. When the line 50 is reeved onto the drawworks drum, the traveling block 51! moves up in the mast 19 and pulls line 60 so that the tower is moved to the full line position shown in FIG. d of the drawings. Thereafter, it may be secured to the base 110 by any suitable means.

In FIG. 5, the drawworks 16 on support 15a and drawworks support structure 15 is illustrated as having been moved from the reclined position on the base 110 to a raised, elevated position a predetermined distance above base structure 10. In this instance, the sling line 65 is connected to the end 15i of the drawworks support 15a and extends over a sheave means 66 mounted in the mast or in the pipe setback tower and then upwardly to the hook 53 shown diagrammatically extending from the traveling block 51. Flexible lines 58 extend between the traveling block and the crown block (not shown), and when the flexible line means 50 is reeved onto the drum of the drawworkslfi, the drawworks will self-elevate to the full line position shown in FIG. 5 by reason of the movable means comprising the legs 15b which are pivotally connected on the base structure and to the drawworks support 15a.

Thereafter, the drawworks support structure may be secured in upright position by suitable braces as previously mentioned.

In addition, the rotary support 26 may be secured between the drawworks support structure 15 and pipe support structure 16, such rotary support extending through the mast 19 as previously noted.

The pipe setback tower 25 can be built so that it is not as wide as the mast base. Thus, as shown at dotted lines 70 in FIG. 2, it would be less in width than the width between the mast legs as represented at 35. In such event, the pipe setback could be retained in elevated position and the mast l9 lowered therearound for transit purposes.

Thus, the present invention provides a deep well drilling apparatus which is mounted on a single base structure and wherein the drawworks is retained in a nonelevated position on the base structure while the mast, and if desired, the pipe tower 25, are first moved to an upright position. Thereafter, the drawworks may be elevated to a predetermined position in relation to the base structure for conducting drilling operations. The drawworks support structure, the pipe support, and the rotary table support may be integrally connected while retaining them independent of the mast to avoid undue strains thereon.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape, and materials as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Deep well drilling apparatus comprising:

a a support base structure;

b an elevatable drawworks support;

c movable means secured to said support base structure and said drawworks support for raising said drawworks support from saidsupport base structure to a desired elevated position above said support base structure;

d a gin pole structure having a lower end mounted on said support base structure and an upper end elevated in relation to said support base structure;

e a mast support mounted on said support base structure in front of said gin pole structure;

f a reclining mast having a foot end pivotally connected to said mast support, said mast extending forward from said mast support;

g drawworks mounted on said drawworks support;

h means including a flexible line connecting said drawworks, gin pole structure, and mast for exerting a force to move the inclined mast to an upright position on said support base structure while said drawworks, drawworks support, and movable means remain in nonelevated position on said support base structure; and

support means extending between said drawworks support when in elevated position and said independent pipe support structure.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said rotary table support means extends through said mast.

5. The invention of claim 3 including a rotary table on said support means. 

1. Deep well drilling apparatus comprising: a a support base structure; b an elevatable drawworks support; c movable means secured to said support base structure and said drawworks support for raising said drawworks support from said support base structure to a desired elevated position above said support base structure; d a gin pole structure having a lower end mounted on said support base structure and an upper end elevated in relation to said support base structure; e a mast support mounted on said support base structure in front of said gin pole structure; f a reclining mast having a foot end pivotally connected to said mast support, said mast extending forward from said mast support; g drawworks mounted on said drawworks support; h means including a flexible line connecting said drawworks, gin pole structure, and mast for exerting a force to move the inclined mast to an upright position on said support base structure while said drawworks, drawworks support, and movable means remain in nonelevated position on said support base structure; and i a pipe support pivotally supported on said support base structure and positioned adjacent but independent of said mast when said mast and pipe support are in upright position on said support base structure.
 2. The invention of claim 1 including means for securing said mast to said gin pole structure to aid in supporting said mast in upright position.
 3. The invention of claim 1 including rotary table support means extending between said drawworks support when in elevated position and said independent pipe support structure.
 4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said rotary table support means extends through said mast.
 5. The invention of claim 3 including a rotary table on said support means. 